I recently got a DROID 2 Global with Verizon and am looking to maximize my battery life. I am aware of the need to dim my display, disable Wi-Fi and GPS when not using it, increase sync intervals, and all that good stuff.

However, in my continuing effort to maximize my battery life without shutting down stuff I really need, I came across the network mode settings. Since I am not planning to leave the U.S. any time soon, I don't need global so I've switched it to CDMA.

I have heard that this might not make a difference because the phone only searches for the Global network if it can't find CDMA. However, the source didn't seem fully reliable

Question: Will switching to CDMA-only use less resources (and power) than Global, or will it make no difference because Global and CDMA-only perform the same in the presence of network?

2 Answers
2

Since Verizon is CDMA-only in the USA, as long as your CDMA reception is strong there will be no reason for the phone to search for GSM. If you find yourself in a very low/no-signal area, however, the phone may hop over to GSM to search, even though it cannot connect to any domestic GSM network. There's no real downside to switching this setting to CDMA while in the USA, as long as you remember to make the switch back when you travel overseas.

This saves significant power on my D2G; not normally, but when I go to these areas of SW Wisconsin where there's all these valleys with no phone service at all, the thing just sucks power switching between CDMA and GSM modes looking for service. It waits at least 30 seconds before starting a GSM search though, so if you don't lose CDMA at all (or just in little spots) it won't affect power use at all. The phone has the (so-called) band lock on it (which doesn't really block the bands, but does block US GSM carriers from operating on it at the radio firmware level.)